SparkFun Electronics Commentsurn:uuid:214d0e4e-f1b1-d287-ce26-ac5b4c9f82492015-03-03T15:40:47-07:00SparkFun ElectronicsCustomer #521601 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzCustomer #521601urn:uuid:5c9f0b40-3d07-d4e2-2802-5ef3b4ecea312014-06-27T03:37:57-06:00<p>Yes, all the functions are the same as the old module. The only difference is IC package. The old one is with RF12B die and the new one is with packaged IC.</p>Customer #521601 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzCustomer #521601urn:uuid:7deb700e-0bf3-5533-df84-67655d479f372014-06-27T03:33:37-06:00<p>They don&rsquo;t have plan to discontinue this module. Pls don&rsquo;t worry.</p>MikeGrusin on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzMikeGrusinurn:uuid:96044d18-5a17-c235-581b-3e20e70be4d62014-04-07T11:55:48-06:00<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISM_band" rel="nofollow" >It&rsquo;s complicated</a> but you are essentially correct that the 433MHz parts are intended for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU_region" rel="nofollow" >ISM region 1</a> (Europe, Africa, Mideast, Russia) while the <a href="https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12031" rel="nofollow" >915MHz parts</a> are intended for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU_region" rel="nofollow" >region 2</a> (Americas). There is considerable overlap and local differences that aren&rsquo;t covered in the above maps. These devices are designed to be low-power and noninterfering with other devices, so unless you&rsquo;re deploying a commercial product or a very large number of them this isn&rsquo;t likely to affect you directly.</p>keyserkid131 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzkeyserkid131urn:uuid:cdb34bb5-7084-6cf2-3d95-77496ce27bf72014-04-05T21:23:59-06:00<p>It&rsquo;s all in the antenna. Google &ldquo;DIY ground plane antenna&rdquo;. I&rsquo;ve built a few of them and although they have no gain, the go miles farther than a whip.</p>keyserkid131 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzkeyserkid131urn:uuid:f9d483b3-2d19-ea0d-16e6-da1e03e107c42014-04-05T21:18:42-06:00<p>If I am correct, and correct <em>me</em> if I&rsquo;m wrong, I believe in the United States one must first acquire an amateur radio license of any class to transmit in the 70cm band (420-450MHz).</p>Customer #235042 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzCustomer #235042urn:uuid:aa520626-8ebf-4f7a-2231-41ff9777c92b2014-04-03T20:37:26-06:00<p>My wife purchased me a few of the older module RFM12B&rsquo;s SFE was selling and they are great! I&rsquo;m going to need some more soon and was a bit worried they had gone EOL - I&rsquo;m hoping with this new model it means that isn&rsquo;t a problem.</p>
<p>I&rsquo;d googled breakout boards for these modules and had come up with one&rsquo;s listed above as well. I&rsquo;ve got a couple and they seem to work really well for me.</p>Customer #541429 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzCustomer #541429urn:uuid:5d736538-4e67-e414-b681-97cfca3152ca2014-04-02T18:57:59-06:00<p>A couple of breakout board options were posted to the old product comments. Given this new product is just a mechnical change (or something) pressumably the old breakout boards should work just fine. The details were:</p>
<p>RFM12B Breakout Board PCB - solder yourself: <a href="http://modtronicsaustralia.com/shop/rfm12b-breakout-board-bare-pcb-rf-wireless-module/" rel="nofollow" >http://modtronicsaustralia.com/shop/rfm12b-breakout-board-bare-pcb-rf-wireless-module/</a></p>
<p>RFM12B Breakout Board with soldered module: <a href="http://modtronicsaustralia.com/shop/rfm12b-breakout-board-wireless-module/" rel="nofollow" >http://modtronicsaustralia.com/shop/rfm12b-breakout-board-wireless-module/</a></p>gwiley on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzgwileyurn:uuid:1f229825-db29-91fa-8e82-176ae2e208cf2014-04-01T05:25:33-06:00<p>While the statement is mostly true the FCC requires certification to Part 15 for just about anything you build - even if it is made up of compliant parts. Even if this radio bore a Part 15 certification you could not build a device using it and &ldquo;inherit&rdquo; an FCC certification.</p>shodan45 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzshodan45urn:uuid:a2a50271-284b-46bc-fbe8-fff463503dfa2014-03-29T01:13:22-06:00<p>So this is the new version of the RFM12B, https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9582 ? It looks like the chip-on-board blob was changed to an SMD IC, but are there any other changes? Is it 100% compatible with the old RFM12B?</p>onedividedbyzero on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzonedividedbyzerourn:uuid:3c38ba43-86b2-0544-7d5a-a6bf874292d32014-03-28T10:22:13-06:00<p>Wait a second&hellip; why does it say radio? i though it was supposed to be a food. Can anyone explain?</p>Sam6 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzSam6urn:uuid:78146623-37b8-6922-ba45-854dc37d4c6b2014-03-28T10:05:01-06:00<p>Just a heads up, but these models do not appear to be FCC, etc pre-certified. A statement within the product description (&lsquo;fully comply with FCC and ETSI regulations") can be misinterpreted to mean a pre-certified&hellip; This means that although this module compiles with the FCC regulations using it within a commercial product will require formal FCC approvals which are quite costly.</p>RJR on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzRJRurn:uuid:22e0a400-832a-a8eb-19ad-b0e1fdce26132014-03-27T20:27:13-06:00<p>Quite a bit actually. There are quite a few products using the Hope RF modules. Jeelabs, strobotics, openenergymonitor, lowpowerlab. etc.</p>
<p>Some details on range here: http://talk.jeelabs.net/topic/180</p>
<p>Google &lsquo;RFM12B range&rsquo; (I think the unit above is similar, can&rsquo;t be sure as the datasheet links to the old module) for more info.</p>RJR on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzRJRurn:uuid:77b35ddd-6af2-fd04-9e7d-4c2893f3b33a2014-03-27T03:49:38-06:00<p>I made mine work in a breadboard by bending the tops of a breakout header to fit the spacing. Pins 1 and 14 (or was it 7 and 8&hellip;) aren&rsquo;t required for use with an ATMega - one is a 2nd GND that can be wired to the other ground without connecting the header, I don&rsquo;t remember what the other pin is&hellip; Anyway, that works somewhat. Agree about the breakout though - see my question below.</p>Shred on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzShredurn:uuid:100040c7-6113-0591-773d-fdc16013ec0b2014-03-27T01:03:25-06:00<p>Gaaah&hellip; it uses 2mm pin spacing! Why? For the love of God, why!!?? To use this, I&rsquo;d need to buy a breakout board&hellip; which costs nearly as much as the module itself.</p>RJR on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzRJRurn:uuid:1a5bd120-467e-dc2a-47bb-0cca771187622014-03-27T00:40:43-06:00<p>Will there be a real breakout this time? The one &lsquo;below&rsquo; is for the RFM22 which has more pins. Also, I assume the arduino thield for the 22 can&rsquo;t be used for the 12, or is the SPI and power pinout he same?</p>Scott17 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzScott17urn:uuid:ecaf8108-e764-0a9b-cb08-5f53dc625f092014-03-26T15:37:57-06:00<p>Don&rsquo;t expect much with a wire-whip antenna. The datasheet references application note &ldquo;IA ISM-AN1&rdquo; which seems to be relabeled by different manufacturers. There is comparison of different antenna types in table form for each of the bands. Google it.
Unless someone else has already done some experimenting, there&rsquo;s no short answer, I&rsquo;m afraid. (as far as I know)</p>Customer #66993 on WRL-12770 - RFM12BSP Wireless Transceiver - 434MHzCustomer #66993urn:uuid:0d761436-2d7e-8104-963d-56892179f04d2014-03-26T10:38:25-06:00<p>What&rsquo;s the operating range of these things?</p>